Meta’s plan to build its largest data center to date—a $10 billion, four million-square-foot facility in Richland Parish, Louisiana—has drawn scrutiny from the U.S. Senate, as the social media giant partners with a utility company seeking to power the site with three new natural gas plants.

The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, led by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, has launched an inquiry into the climate implications of Meta’s new facility, questioning how the project aligns with the company’s public climate commitments.

The data center, expected to be completed by 2030, is designed to advance Meta’s artificial intelligence ambitions. However, the local utility provider, New Orleans-based Entergy, has proposed building three new combustion turbine gas plants to meet the center’s massive 24/7 energy needs. The company says these plants are necessary to supply the 2,300 megawatts of power required and that renewables like solar and wind cannot deliver the same round-the-clock reliability.

Entergy emphasized in a statement to Fast Company that natural gas “is the lowest reasonable cost option available that can support the 24/7 electrical demands of a large data center like Meta.” The plants would be located near Haynesville Shale, one of the richest natural gas reserves in the country.

But Senator Whitehouse raised alarms about the reliance on fossil fuels for a project tied to a company that claims to be net zero across its operations. In a letter sent to Meta and obtained exclusively by Fast Company, Whitehouse wrote that the proposal “flies in the face of Meta’s climate commitments.”

“Meta’s decision to power its data centers with fossil fuels while claiming net zero status is deeply troubling. This isn’t leadership—it’s greenwashing,” Whitehouse said in a statement. “Families are already paying the price for climate inaction through higher insurance costs. Meta’s backslide from its own climate pledges risks triggering broader economic harm at a time when we urgently need corporate responsibility.”

The EPW Committee is now demanding transparency from Meta, requesting detailed documentation on the data center’s projected energy use, emissions, and carbon offset strategies. It also wants clarity on the proposed carbon capture projects Entergy and Meta have referenced—neither of which have been fully disclosed.

The letter criticizes Meta’s claims as vague, noting that neither the company nor Entergy has demonstrated how the solar generation it promotes will actually offset the emissions from the new gas plants. “Meta has not shown that the planned generation from its solar plant will match its data center electricity load and displace equivalent fossil fuel generation,” Whitehouse wrote. “Neither Entergy nor Meta have disclosed details about the carbon capture project or the amount of Meta’s financial contribution, raising doubt as to whether Meta is meaningfully offsetting its emissions. And Meta’s construction of new gas plants risks locking in future fossil fuel assets; a responsible corporate actor would show how these plants will be soon phased out or equipped with carbon capture.”

“These gaps,” he added, “raise concerns that Meta’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions is not genuine.”

The committee is requesting Meta provide documentation by May 28. While the company is not legally obligated to comply, the public and political pressure is mounting as the environmental and financial implications of the project come into sharper focus.

Meta maintains that it remains committed to climate action. The company says it is working with Entergy to add at least 1,500 megawatts of new renewable energy to the grid and is exploring carbon capture technologies, including one at an Entergy plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Meta also announced a partnership with electricity company RWE to develop a 374-megawatt solar farm in Louisiana, and says it has matched its global electricity consumption with renewable energy purchases since 2020.

Despite those investments, critics argue that new fossil fuel infrastructure undermines those efforts. The EPW Committee’s inquiry also challenges Entergy’s assertion that natural gas is the only viable option, asking for analyses that rule out renewable energy with battery storage.

Beyond climate concerns, experts warn that the energy demands of AI data centers like Meta’s could drive up electricity costs for everyday consumers. Entergy’s proposal could result in “hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, of additional costs,” an energy consultant told Business Insider. In Oregon, where data centers are concentrated, electricity prices have risen by 50% over the past five years.

Reports also highlight that Entergy Louisiana has “almost no renewable power in its system,” and electricity prices are projected to increase 90% from 2018 to 2030. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s previous rollback of renewable energy initiatives has left gaps in sustainable infrastructure development. Meta, which donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration and whose CEO Mark Zuckerberg hosted an inaugural celebration, has faced criticism for its ties to the administration.

To address growing emissions from tech infrastructure, Senator Whitehouse has introduced the Clean Cloud Act, which would establish emissions standards for data centers and require large cloud providers to contribute to programs that help consumers offset rising energy costs.

As AI’s power needs continue to grow, the Louisiana project may become a test case for how tech companies balance innovation with sustainability—and whether their environmental pledges can withstand federal scrutiny.

Originally reported by Kristin Toussaint in Fast Company.